SBPD Operations

The members of the South Bend Police Department are dedicated to the advancement of community policing and the development of a partnership with our citizens. In this section, you will find an overview of the department and each section or units' function.

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An Overview of SBPD SWAT Operations

The Special
Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit exists to support the patrol and criminal investigations divisions in resolving
high-risk incidents while minimizing the potential for injury or death to all
parties involved. This is accomplished with specially trained officers and numerous
specialized weapons, vehicles and other tools. Some examples of situations that
would require the deployment of the SWAT team include:

Barricaded,
armed suspect(s) holding hostages

Sniper
attacks

Protection
of police and fire units involved in mob actions, arsonists, and insurgents

Deployment
of special and/or chemical weapons

High
risk search warrant service

Special
event planning and protection deployments

The tactical situation philosophy is that every decision is based on the premise
that the preservation of human life constitutes the first priority in devising
any strategy. The SBPD SWAT team is comprised of three components, each trained
and equipped for specific duties. The SWAT team is commanded by a unit commander
and is broken down as follows:

Tactical
Team - Consisting of a tactical commander and a component of sergeants and
officers that have specific duties and specializations. These duties include operators,
sniper/observer teams, less-lethal, K-9 and breachers.

Negotiations - Consisting of a Negotiations commander, one sergeant, and six to eight officers.
This team is responsible for conducting all communication with barricaded persons
and is vital to gathering information about these situations.

Support - Consisting of a Support commander; a support team including entry and perimeter
management and other officers used to assist during times of SWAT unit activation.

SWAT
officers are highly trained and specialized in use of weapons and tactics to ensure
the safety of the officers and civilians contacted during times of SWAT utilization.
SWAT team members consist of members from the uniform patrol and investigative
divisions who are engaged in the performance of their day to day duties and are
on an 'on call' basis 24 hours a day to ensure a swift response when needed.